*Given all of this information, many American farmers aren't willing to take any chances and are forsaking all products containing imidacloprid, which puts them in step with European farmers and with the common sense based Precautionary Principle.

"Pollination is so important to us, we agreed not to use these new materials," said Darren Hammond, farm manager for Jasper Wyman & Sons of Maine, the nation's largest producer of wild blueberries. "Our primary competitor and all of our outside growers have also agreed not to use these products. We're not saying there's definitely a link between bees and imidacloprid; that's for the researchers to decide. We're just not willing to take the risk." Entire Story Here

Below is a summary of the chemical and brand names of the commonly used neonicotinoids. These are toxic to our honey bees. We are asking growers who are using these materials and who are dependent on honey bees for pollination, not to use these products currently until more research is done .

Never use a neonicotinoid pesticide on a blooming crop or on blooming weeds if honey bees are present.
• The use of a neonicotinoid pesticide pre-bloom, just before bees are brought onto a crop is not recommended. If one of these materials MUST be used pre-bloom (for example at pink in
apples), select a material that has a lower toxicity to bees (acetamiprid or thiacloprid) and apply
only when bees are not foraging, preferably late evening.
• Do not apply these materials post bloom (example petal fall) until after the bees have been
removed from the crop. For the full report clicke here.

*In the United States, a group of beekeepers from North Dakota is taking Bayer to court after losing thousands of honeybee colonies in 1995, during a period when oilseed rape in the area was treated with imidacloprid. A third of honeybees were killed by what has since been dubbed colony collapse disorder.

*The Dutch government has banned Imidaclprid completely in open-air situations. The product evidently also leaves a residue in the soil that completely destroys the Earthworm population that is so important to soil conservation. It also gets into weeds and other crops grown in the same ground. French beekeepers maintain they have lost thousands of colonies to this pesticide and a sister organo-phosphate called Fibronil produced by Aventis and are calling on the French government to remove both products from the market.

*PARIS - "Gaucho", a broad-spectrum insecticide made by the Germany-based chemical giant Bayer, was banned in France in 1999 due to its toxicity to bees and other forms of life -- including humans -- but its replacement, "Regent", from another German giant, BASF, is just as dangerous say beekeepers and biologists.

*Lawmakers in France and several other European countries have long restricted certain applications of imidacloprid based on evidence that the product harms bees.

*Maurice Mary, spokesman of the French beekeepers union Union National d'Apiculteurs (UNAF): "Since the first application of GAUCHO we have had great losses in the harvest of sunflower honey. Since the agent is staying in the soil up to three years, even untreated plants can contain a concentration which is lethal for bees." The UNAF representing about 50.000 beekeepers is calling for a total ban of GAUCHO, following the presentation of the CST report.

*The German beekeepers united in the Deutsche Berufsimkerbund (DBIB) and the Coalition against Bayer-Dangers are also calling for a ban on its use. In Germany, Imidacloprid is used mainly in the production of rape, sugar beet and maize. The situation in German agriculture is comparable to the French: In the past years almost half of the bee-colonies have died, which led to a loss of output of several thousand tonnes of honey per year. Furthermore, because bees do the most pollination, there are also losses of output on apples, pears and rape.